worry

Our brain wants us to feel good but it hasn’t quite figured out how to differentiate “good” feelings from “bad”. When you feel shame, guilt and worry your brain is trying to reward you by activating its reward center!

Feel’n Blue by Peggy

When you are being followed by a black cloud, Alex Korb* has some insights that might help you find the sun. It’s all about neuroscience.

According to Korb, “Despite their differences, pride, shame, and guilt all activate similar neural circuits, including the dorsomedial prefrontal cortex, amygdala, insula, and the nucleus accumbens. This explains why it can be so appealing to heap guilt and shame on ourselves — they’re activating the brain’s reward center.“

“A similar thing may be going if you just can’t seem to stop worrying. Korb says worrying stimulates the medial prefrontal cortex and lowers activity in the amygdala, thus helping your limbic system, your emotions, remain copascetic. His theory is that, even though worry is widely recognized as a pointless thing to do from a tactical point of view, apparently the brain considers it better than doing nothing at all when you’re anxious.”

How do you redirect your brain from “rewarding” you with guilt, shame or worry?

“Korb suggests asking yourself: “What am I grateful for?” His reasoning is chemical:“One powerful effect of gratitude is that it can boost serotonin.Trying to think of things you are grateful for forces you to focus on the positive aspects of your life. This simple act increases serotonin production in the anterior cingulate cortex.”

“Even more intriguingly, actually coming up with something you’re thankful for — not always an easy thing to do in a dark mood — isn’t even required. Just the acts of remembering to be thankfulis the flexing of a type of emotional intelligence: “One study found that it actually affected neuron density in both the ventromedial and lateral prefrontal cortex. These density changes suggest that as emotional intelligence increases, the neurons in these areas become more efficient. With higher emotional intelligence, it simply takes less effort to be grateful.”

Serotonin Boost by Peggy

We’ve written about gratitude before – and will undoubtedly continue. Quick and easy ways to refocus on what you can be grateful for is often hard when you’re feeling down. Force yourself to name, list, draw 3 – 5 things every day.

They can be the same things every day and minor things taken for granted.

Examples of my gratitude:

I have teeth to brush

When I turn on the faucet water runs out

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I’m a hugger. I admit it. It’s almost a reflex when I see someone I like or admire.

In the 1970’s I taught 3rd grade. It was common for some students to run up, throw their arms around my waist and give me a big hug. We teachers would always hug back. When a student got hurt or was in distress a hug was automatic. Our cultural climate has changed and teachers are no longer suppose to touch, much less hug, students. Our cultural climate is continuing to change and unwanted, unwarranted “hugs” are rightly being brought out into the open and condemned.

“Got someone to hug? Go for it. Alex Korb, says ‘A hug, especially a long one, releases a neurotransmitter and hormone oxytocin, which reduces the reactivity of the amygdala.”‘

“Hand holding, pats on the back, and handshakes work, too. Korb cites a study in which subjects whose hands were held by their partners experienced a reduced level of anxiety while waiting for an expected electrical shock from researchers. “The brain showed reduced activation in both the anterior cingulate cortex and dorsolateral prefrontal cortex — that is, less activity in the pain and worrying circuits.”’

And if you have no one handy to touch, guess what? Massage has also been shown to be an effective way to get your oxytocin flowing, and it reduces stress hormones and increases your dopamine levels. Win win.

Mousey Masseuse by Peggy

The value of touching shouldn’t be overlooked when you’re down. According to Korb:

“In fact, as demonstrated in an fMRI [functional magnetic imaging] experiment, social exclusion activates the same circuitry as physical pain . . .”

“Chronic procrastinators are not lazy; they simply need to cultivate a more natural and fluid transition from mental activity to physical activity, while allowing an appropriate amount of time and energy to complete the task. To do this, the procrastinator first needs to understand the inner conflicts that produced the procrastination pattern. This book provides a quiz to help the reader understand which procrastination style or combination of styles best fists them, and it offers suggestions for changing how you think, speak and act, based on your procrastination style. Here is a review of the six styles.”

Style #3: Worrier. They have an excessive need for security, causing them to fear risk. They fear change, causing them to avoid finishing projects so they don’t have to leave the comfort of the “known.”

Style #4: Defier. A rebel seeking to buck the rules. By procrastinating, they are setting their own schedule — one that nobody else can predict or control. More subtle forms are called passive-aggressive.